The Abbott and Costello Show
| last_aired = | status = Ended }} The Abbott and Costello Show is an American television sitcom starring the popular comedy team of Bud Abbott and Lou Costello that premiered in syndication in the fall of 1952 and ran until May 1954. The series is regarded among the most influential comedy programs in history. In 1998 Entertainment Weekly praised the series as one of the "100 Greatest TV Shows of All Time." In 2007, Time magazine selected it for its "The 100 Best TV Shows of All-TIME." Overview The show was a vehicle to bring the duo's tried and true burlesque routines to television in a format that the team could control. It contained none of the musical interludes or love stories that marked most of their feature films. Basically, if a situation or gag was funny, the team filmed it with little regard to plot, character or continuity. As a result, the show became a record of classic burlesque scenes performed by the duo. Abbott and Costello portrayed unemployed actors sharing an apartment in a rooming house in Hollywood. The supporting cast included Sidney Fields as their landlord; Hillary Brooke as a neighbor and sometime love interest; Gordon Jones as Mike the Cop, a dimwitted foil for the boys; Joe Besser as Stinky, a 40-year-old man dressed in a Little Lord Fauntleroy suit; and Joe Kirk (Costello's brother-in-law) as Mr. Bacciagalupe, an Italian immigrant caricature who held a variety of jobs depending upon the requirements of the script. Bobby Barber and Joan Shawlee also appeared frequently. Several episodes featured a pet female chimp named "Bingo", who was dressed exactly the same as Costello. Bingo was fired from the show after biting Costello. Brooke, Besser, and Kirk also left the cast after the first season. Broadcast history Lou Costello owned the show with Bud Abbott working on salary. The show was not a network program when first introduced but was sold into syndication by MCA Inc. to about 40 local stations across the country. As a result, it was broadcast on different days and at different times in different cities. In New York, it first appeared on the CBS affiliate, WCBS, on December 5, 1952 but was not carried nationally on that network. (The 1953-54 season was telecast locally on WNBT, as NBC's New York flagship station was then known). However, first season episodes were repeated as part of CBS' Saturday morning schedule during the 1954-55 season. Production notes The program lasted two seasons (52 episodes) and was directed and produced by Jean Yarbrough. (Costello's brother, Pat, was listed as the producer, but his function was nominal.) Most of the scripts for the first season were written by Sid Fields after Eddie Forman wrote the early establishing episodes. Episodes in the second season were written by Jack Townley, Felix Adler or Clyde Bruckman. The first season episodes were filmed at the Hal Roach Studios in Culver City. (The 14.5 acre studio, once known as "The Lot of Fun", was torn down in 1963 and replaced by "Landmark Street", an area of light industrial buildings, businesses, and an automobile dealership, where a plaque marks the studio's former location). The second season was shot at Motion Picture Center Studios, which later became Desilu-Cahuenga Studios, where I Love Lucy as well as the Danny Thomas and Jack Benny shows, were filmed. DVD releases *''Season One'': September 5, 2006 *''Season Two'': October 3, 2006 *''The Abbott and Costello Show: The Complete Series, Collector's Edition'': March 30, 2010. Legacy Jerry Seinfeld has declared that The Abbott and Costello Show, with its overriding emphasis upon funny situations rather than life lessons, was the inspiration for his own long-running sitcom, Seinfeld.''Abbott and Costello Meet Jerry Seinfeld. By NBC Productions. Originally broadcast: November 24, 1994. References External links * * Category:1952 television series debuts Category:1954 television series endings Category:1950s American television series Category:Abbott and Costello (film series) Category:American television sitcoms Category:Black-and-white television programs Category:English-language television series Category:First-run syndicated television programs in the United States Category:1952 Category:1954 Category:Bud Abbott Category:Lou Costello